There seems to be some confusion amongst the ranks of novice blackjack players. While some pairs should only be split depending on what the dealer’s up card is, there are some that should or shouldn’t be split regardless of what the dealer has. And these apply to blackjack online and land-based blackjack alike.
First the pairs that should always be split: Aces and 8’s.
Splitting Aces will more often than not result in gains for the blackjack player. Will splitting Aces every time give you a win? No, but the point here is to go with what will give you the best shot at winning.
Think of it this way: an Ace is half of what you need to make 21. Splitting a pair of Aces gives you a decent shot at creating not one, but two, strong hands. And if you hit to the point that an Ace as an 11 will bust you, you can always reduce it to 1. A pair of Aces is a pretty flexible hand to be dealt.
Splitting a pair of 8’s is more of a defensive play in blackjack. If you play them as a hard 16 you have a stiff hand. But splitting and starting to hands will have you starting with an 8 in each hand, which you would hit regardless of what the up card is. Think of it as starting over with the chance to build a new hand.
Now the pairs that should never be split: 5’s and 10’s.
A pair of 5’s can be played the same as a hard 10. And a hard 10 is half way to 21 or at least to a strong hand. Go ahead and play blackjack with the hard 10 and double down if the option is available. Splitting and starting two hands with a 5 each means that you have a long way to go to building a strong hand.
Two 10’s is a hard 20. This is one of the strongest hands that you can have and win with. The only thing that can beat this is if the dealer has a natural blackjack or hits to 21. Never throw away a hard 20 by splitting a pair of 10’s.
Applying this when you play blackjack online or in a land-based casino will improve your odds. All four of these pairs are on a basic strategy chart, which will tell you the same thing: split Aces and 8’s and don’t split 5’s and 10’s.
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